Thread-controlling mechanism for sewing-machines.



J. P. WEIS. THREAD CONTROLLING MEGHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 29, 1910.

Patented May 2, 1911 WITNESSES:

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J. I. WBIS. THREAD CONTROLLING unormm'sm FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED M19229, 1910. 991,399, Patented May 2,1911.

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WITNESSES.

11- QQ 5 m ATTORNEY.

JOHN P. WEIS, OF NYACK, NEW YORK.

THREAD-CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Original application filed Gctober 11, 1909, Serial No. 522,158.

Specification of Letters Patent.

29, 1910. Serial No. 540,761.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN P. Wins, a citizen of the United States, residing in Nyack, county of Rockland, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Thread-Controlling Mechanism for Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a description.

This invention relates to sewing machines, and particularly to thread-controlling mechanism therefor, that is to say, controlling mechanism for the under-threads thereof, whether the latter be for supply to the looper, the spreader or both.

Among the objects of my invention may be noted the following: to provide a simple, easy running and effective thread-controlling device, by means of which a supply of thread may be drawn for the next stitch to be made and that supply controlled at the proper time; to provide a compact thread-controlling device by means of which a grip may be imposed upon the thread so that the thread may be drawn from the supply on the one side and slack taken up on the other side; to provide a thread-controlling mechanism which can be so adjusted as to regulate the amount of take-up and supply action and which, by reason of its construction, can be applied to a sewing machine in practically any position desired, according to the function required of it.

With the above objects in view, and others which will be detailed during the course of this description, my invention consists in the parts, features and elements, and combination of elements and mechanisms, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In order that my invention may be understood, I have provided drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan View of so much of a sewing machine as is deemed necessary to illustrate my invention, parts of the workplate being broken away to illustrate details of construction; Fig. 2 is a left end ele vation of Fig. 1, the swinging-end portion of which has been removed and a part of the feed mechanism being broken away; and Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation looking at the front of Fig. 1, illustrating portions of the looper and spreader mechanisms in elevation, a portion of the feeding mechanism in section and the juxtaposition of said parts and of the thread-controlling mechanism, constituting my present invention.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates the bed-plate of the machine; 2 the rear portion of the work-plate thereof; 3 the front portion of said work-plate; 4: the throat-plate through which the feed-dogs, 5, operate; 6 the hinged or swinging end portion of the work-plate, 7 the front coverplate; 8 the driving-shaft of the machine; 9 the supporting-plate for the spreader mechanism; 10 the supporting-plate for the looper mechanism, the latter two plates being secured together in any suitable way and adjustable by providing slots in the plate 10 and passing the screws 11 therethrough into the bed-plate 1. The driving-shaft extends through the end-bearing 12, to which the work-plate 2 is secured by means of one or more screws 13.

The looper mechanism and the spreader mechanism have not been herein shown in all their details because not made the subject of my present invention, the latter being a division of my application, Serial No. 522,158, filed October 11, 1909, for improvement in stocking welting machines. The looper is of the thread carrying type, and has the usual thread-eyes and groove extending between the two, as shown in my aforesaid application, said looper being secured to the carrier 15 driven by means of the connection 16 and pit-man 17 from the drivingehaft of the machine. The spreader 18 is also of the thread carrying type, being provided with the usual thread-eyes and groove extending between the two, and said spreader being secured in the end of the carrier 19, fulcrumed at 20, and having its rear end connected by a ball-joint with the pitman 21, said connection being supported by the link 22, fulcrumed at 23 to the plate 9. The lower end of the link 22 is guided by the curved plate 24. A radius-bar 25, fulcrumed at 26, on the plate 9, is guided by the curved plate 27. These parts are all as shown in my aforesaid application.

The feed-dogs 5 are supported by the feedbar parts 28, one part being driven by the link 29, in turn actuated by the lever 30, fulcrumed at 31, to the bracket 32, secured to the bed-plate of the. machine, adjustment of the throw of the lever 30, being secured by the slide 33, actuated by the reciprocating connection 34, pivotally connected to said slide and operated between the stops '35, carried by the post 36, and adjustable by the screws 37. The rear portion of the feedbar is actuated by the rocking-frame 38, fulcrumed at 39, to the bed-plate edge of the machine, movement being given to said rocking-frame by means of the reciprocating connection 40, this connection and the connection 34, being driven from the mainshaft 8, as clearly illustrated in my afore said application, these parts being herein only incidentally shown to give an accurate idea of the juxtaposition of parts and c0 operative arrangement of my thread-controlling devices. The end portion 6 of the work-plate is held in place by the springcatch 41, cooperating with the bracket-piece 42, and carried by the plate 43, secured to the bottom of said plate portion 6.

The work-plate is made up, in addition to the front and rear portions 2 and 3, respectively, of the swinging-end portion 6 having the top-plate 6 and the front and rear flanges 6 the lower ends of which are journaled at 44 to similar bearings 45 extending from the front end of the bed-plate 1 of the machine. The top-plate 6 has the extension 6" which cooperates at the rear with the plate 2, at the front with the plate 3, and at the side with the throat-plate 4. The vertical end portion 6 of the work-plate carries a thread-guide, consisting, preferably, of bent wire the ends 46 of which are suitably secured in said end portion 6, extend outwardly therefrom, and then rearwardly to form the loops 47 connected by the bar 48 extending longitudinally of said vertical portion 6. The looper-thread, in passing through this thread-guide, extends from a suitable spool or holder and then to the guide-eye 49 secured to the bed 1 of the machine adjacent to tension device 50, which latter may be of any usual character, the thread passing through this tension device and thence through the said guide-loops 47 from rear to front of the machine. Leaving said guide-loops the looper-thread passes to the combination thread-guide, cam, take-up, and pull-off, see Figs. 1 and 3, the parts of which are only generally indicated herein since the details of construction are not made the subject of claim herein. The base-plate of the guide and clamp is indicated at 51 and is secured to the bed 1 by the screws 52 passing through slot 53, said baseplate having the vertical post 54 extending therefrom which, at its top, has the U-shaped portion 55 from which extends the arm 56 forming part of the thread-clamp, the other part of which is formed by the spring 57 having the projection 58 extending from the side thereof and within the space between the arms of the U-shaped portion 55. The arm 56 is provided with the notch 59 terminating in an open guide-eye through which the thread extends from a pair of guide-eyes 60 carried by the opposite arms of the U-shaped portion 55, the thread thus spanning the space between the said arms so as to be operated upon by a combined take-up and pull ofi' disk (31 carried by the driving-shaft 8 just beside the bearing 12, the said disk 61 having a cam portion 62 projecting from its inner side, see Figs. 1 and 3, which cooperates with the projection of the clamping spring. A similar combination of elements is provided for the control of the spreader-thread, the same being illustrated in Fig. 1, where all similar parts are indicated by the same reference characters. With particular reference to Fig. 1, it

will be seen that the operation of the rear thread-controlling device is that the smooth periphery of the disk 61 will engage the thread extending between the guide-eyes 60 before the cam 62 thereof engages the projection 58 of the clamping-spring 57, thus operating to control the slack extending from the clamping-device to the spreader; but, in the further travel of said disk, the cam carried by the latter will engage the projection of the clamping-spring and force the latter against the thread extending along the arm of the thread-guide. \Vhen this occurs, the thread engaging disk in its continued movement will draw thread from the supply since the thread is clamped on the spreader-side of the clamping-device. Precisely the same operation of the front controlling device occurs with reference to the looper-thread so that during one portion of the rotary movement of the disk the latter will control the slack-thread extending from the rear end of the looper to the clamping-device while the latter is open, and when said clamp is closed upon the thread said disk will draw thread from the supply through the tension-device and, the relative adjustment and arrangement of the two thread-controlling mechanisms is such as to bring about complete control of the spreader and looper threads at a time during the operation of the machine, such as to prevent any slack occurring when it is necessary to have the thread substantially taut and to supply thread to the looper and spreader at the proper time to prevent friction thereon by the moving parts of the stitcl1-forming mechanism. This will be described presently; but, it should now be noted that all the guide-eyes, or threadguides, for the looper and spreader are open so that the thread is merely laid in said guides rather than being threaded through them. That is to say, guides 49 and 60 are open wire loops, while guides 59 are open eyes.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that I have illustrated my invention in connection with a three-thread ma.- chine, one thread being carried by the needle, not shown, but the stitching position being indicated in Fig. l by the letter 5, the second thread being carried by the looper 14, and the third thread being carried by the spreader 18; the cooperation of the several active elements of the stitch-forming mechanism being to produce a three-thread, ornamental, overedge stitch. The arrangement of the thread-controlling cams is such that in three-thread machines, as herein portrayed, the cams are set on the driving-shaft, substantially opposite to each other, with the result that the spreader-thread is drawn off while the slack of the looper-thread is taken up, and when the loooper-thread is being drawn off the slack of the spreader-thread is being taken up. Hence, the two threads are not allowed to run loose to supply thread to the stitch at the same time, but one acts as a tie or tension for the other, and the two thread-controlling devices are, in consequenoe, operating upon the respective threads to control the tension of the stitch. The smooth peripheral portion of the disk engages the thread running between the guideeyes before the side-cam portion, carried by the disk, closes the clamp upon the thread, resulting in controlling the slack-thread between said clamp and the stitch-forming implement assuming that the thread is under tension at the supply side of the said controlling device. Continued rotation of the driving-shaft brings the cam portion into cooperation with the projection of the clamping spring resulting in gripping the thread firmly between the latter and the post, and the peripheral portion, during this action, of the parts operating to draw thread from the supply through the usual tension-device by overcoming the stress of the latter. The

tension device 50 operates in the same manner with reference to the controlling-device for the looper-thread. It will thus be seen that the first function performed by the rotary disk is to control the slack-thread between the stitching point and the tensiondevice to prevent looseness of the stitch, and that the next action of the. rotary disk is to operate upon the thread clamp to cause the same to firmly grip the thread between the tension-device and the stitching position, thus enabling said disk to draw thread from the supply since the grip of said clamp is much stronger than the stress on the thread at the tension-device. The cam-disk'61 can be secured in any desired position on the driving-shaft 8, either longitudinally or circumferentially by the screw 63 passing through the cam-collar 64.

From the foregoing it will be readily understood that the function of the threadcontroller or controllers will almost invariably depend upon its position with reference to the tension-device and the stitching position, and that combinations of the controllers,one or more with the stitching instruments,can be made so as to supply a grip and draw upon threads entering into a stitch at just the right time for the production of tight or loose stitches, according to any predetermined design; and the adaptability of my thread-controller to practically any sewing machine and in practically any position in said machine, is one of its important features upon which too much stress cannot be laid. Though I have shown the controlling disk and cam as applied to the driving-shaft of the machine, it is obvious that said disk may be applied to any rotary or oscillating shaft in any given machine.

Having thus described my invention what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A thread-controlling mechanism for sewing machines, comprising a rotary disk, having a laterally projecting cam, a threadgrip, thread-guides between which the thread extends, and means carried by the grip for cooperating with the said cam.

2. A thread-controlling mechanism for sewing machines, comprising an adjustable threadguide, a thread-grip carried thereby, and a rotary disk provided with a cam cooperating with said grip and with the thread extending through said guide.

3. A thread-controlling mechanism comprising a rotary disk having a smooth thread-engaging periphery, a laterally extending cam, a pair of thread-guides, means for supporting the same, and means for adjusting the thread-guides relatively to the disk, and a clamp arranged in the path of operation of the cam for cooperation with the latter.

4. A thread-controlling mechanism for sewing machines comprising a base, a post carried thereby, a U-shaped arm supported by the post, a thread-guide carried by each arm of the U-shaped portion, a spring thread-clamp carried by said U-shaped portion, a rotary disk having a smooth periphery operating between the two thread-guides, and a cam carried by the disk and coiiperating with the thread-clamp.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN P. WEIS.

WVitnesses:

JOHN M. KANE, EDWARD L. RUssELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

